Thought I should take some time to talk about parts of the mega-trip that I am embarking upon this summer. Initially I drove from Penticton BC to PEI through the northern states along with stops in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick while ST flew (allowing her to visit family and friends in the Montreal area). The big drive was the first day leaving via the Okanagan and Okanogan valley (Canada/USA spelling differences) and then across some mountain ranges and through a pass or two to get to Spokane (which I hadn’t been to in at least a decade).

After breakfast at a nondescript fast food outlet on an inner city street, I finally found what I was looking for — an interstate with a proper speed limit — I-90!! With the cruise locked on about 135 km/h and the top down on Bette Bleue, the real joy was getting to see Washington State unfold in its farewell, followed by a short jaunt through the ever pleasant Idaho (without the need for me to stop and enjoy their potatoes, as I was intending to get my fill when reaching PEI). The mountains in those two [2] states are never quite as magnificent as those in Montana, partly I supposed because I get to see great mountains in BC all the time. Montana, on the other hand, is very much like Alberta — and the Rockies have always been special. Again, part of the romance is likely due to the Great Divide which has been part of my life since I was very, very young (which doesn’t seem all the long ago, come to think of it). Montana is big and the highway fast and the scenes change frequently — although there was a constant — about every 100 kms, another US road crew was attempting to rebuild at least some part of the highway which simultaneously required the cruise to be disengaged and both hands put back on the steering wheel. After a rapid crossing of the state, North Dakota was a touch more foreboding — the top had already been raised once in Montana, but that was because of the excessive heat wave that the west was experiencing (and courtesy of the anti-oil-sands folk who want to have global warming as the front and centre piece of climate change). The top had to be raised again, but this time it was due to rain and thunderstorms (again a new phenomena for some, and for those it is definitely a sign of climate change — of course, it is likely so because of their previous domiciles being several kilometres below the arctic circle’s ice cap). The rain was intermittment (which means that when it quit, if I attempted to put the top down, it would immediately start up again), nevertheless the journey was enjoyable with the occasional visit with other travellers at the different rest areas. Note: The USA Interstate people do a much better job of establishing rest areas frequently — and they are well maintained and well-equipped (especially with dispensers of water bottles).

I finally arrived at Bismarck, ND in the late evening — having travelled almost 1900 kms in a time frame of less than eighteen [18] hours. Rest followed by sleep, came quickly.

The next morning the hotel graciously provided a free breakfast — better than that at the fast food outlet the morning before, but still fairly typical of the Hilton/Hampton group. Good enough to provide nutrition and energy for the day, but not sufficient to keep one at the table for more than the minimal moments to eat it. This, of course, helps both the hotel and the traveller — one doesn’t eat much, and one gets on the road more quickly…

This latter point was most appropriate as I had been called by a college colleague & longtime friend I was to visit in Chicago and told he was now going in for major surgery and would be unable to see me… that meant that I would not stay in Chicago but would try to get to the edge of the State of Michigan to sleep…some 1,300 kms…Minnesota is a state quite familiar to me since my grad school days (and even before when on family vacations as a youngster) and it hasn’t changed much. Wisconsin is the same although at one of the gas stations they had some fresh, local Wisconsin curds — that became my evening meal as I continued along I-94 (having left I-90 in Montana), accompanied by some Wisconsin milk…it’s not called American’s Dairyland for nothing…

Darkness began to fall as I approached Chicago but that couldn’t cover up two [2] things that always seem to be happening in Greater Chicago — major road construction projects and accidents. The former were continuous and the latter happened right in the middle of the city on the Dan Ryan Expressway which turned it into a mega-parking lot until the authorities decided to open the express lanes and let us get around the problem. Eventually after perhaps an hour delay and some slow moments to enjoy the skyscrapers of the city, I made it to the Indiana Toll Road — total amount of tolls paid by the time I left Indiana: approximately twenty [$20] dollars (and that’s US $$ too). Arrived in the sleepy town of Stephenville about midnight and went to my room in their Hampton Inn…again, rest followed by sleep came quickly.

Breakfast was about the same, although because I had allowed myself a bit of sleep in, the dining room was crowded…again though no one was lingering over their scrambled eggs and burnt toast so tables became available frequently. After another fill up of inexpensive US fuel (even super premium is well under a dollar a litre), I returned to I-94 which in Michigan actually is in need of significant repair/upgrading. As well, the farms do not appear as prosperous as those on the other side of Lake Michigan, nor even as those I would soon see in Ontario. I was surprised to see some vineyards sprouting up here and there: although certainly not of the lushness nor frequency of the Okanagan.

I did not spend a long time in Michigan and even though it was already part of the Independence Day weekend, traffic was not overly crowded and speeds were pretty acceptable. I had opted for the border crossing at Port Huron/Sarnia since I figured it would be quicker. No disappointment here at all; especially since I was the only car using the NEXUS lane — I waved my card at the reader and by the time I got to the booth, the friendly Canadian Border Guard was welcoming me by name and telling me I was good to go…I was back in Canada and about an hour from London Ontario, where I will next pick up the story…